1996-04-11 - Re: questions about bits and bytes
Header Data
From: Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>
To: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Message Hash: cb991a33ed94e58382a551756b9364f4cf33347e0d648c4cb712c632b929cdf8
Message ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960410115410.13427A-100000@Networking.Stanford.EDU>
Reply To: <m0u736N-0008yBC@pacifier.com>
UTC Datetime: 1996-04-11 01:57:04 UTC
Raw Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 09:57:04 +0800
Raw message
From: Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 09:57:04 +0800
To: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Subject: Re: questions about bits and bytes
In-Reply-To: <m0u736N-0008yBC@pacifier.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.ULT.3.92.960410115410.13427A-100000@Networking.Stanford.EDU>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
On Wed, 10 Apr 1996, jim bell wrote:
> >Be careful writing code - sometimes a byte is -128 to 127 instead of 0
> >to 255. Also, there are machines (mostly old kinky ones) that use
> >bytes of sizes other than 8 bits.
>
> No, Bill, a "byte" has ALWAYS been 8-bits.
Not that it really matters, but you're wrong; if you're talking about an
asynchronous data stream, a byte is however many bits it takes to express
one character. If you're using ASCII, it's 8; if you're using Baudot, it's
5. If you're talking about data in computers, then I think you're right, a
byte is always 8 bits.
-rich
Thread
Return to April 1996
- Return to “dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)”
- Return to “jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>”
- Return to ““Perry E. Metzger” <perry@piermont.com>”
- Return to ““Peter D. Junger” <junger@pdj2-ra.F-REMOTE.CWRU.Edu>”
- Return to “Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>”
- Return to “Scott Brickner <sjb@universe.digex.net>”
Return to “Simon Spero <ses@tipper.oit.unc.edu>”
- 1996-04-13 (Sun, 14 Apr 1996 02:52:47 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
- 1996-04-11 (Thu, 11 Apr 1996 09:57:04 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - Rich Graves <llurch@networking.stanford.edu>
- 1996-04-11 (Thu, 11 Apr 1996 17:30:44 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - Simon Spero <ses@tipper.oit.unc.edu>
- 1996-04-11 (Fri, 12 Apr 1996 06:22:00 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - “Perry E. Metzger” <perry@piermont.com>
- 1996-04-11 (Thu, 11 Apr 1996 21:18:37 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)
- 1996-04-12 (Fri, 12 Apr 1996 18:22:35 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - Scott Brickner <sjb@universe.digex.net>
- 1996-04-11 (Thu, 11 Apr 1996 21:28:27 +0800) - Re: questions about bits and bytes - “Peter D. Junger” <junger@pdj2-ra.F-REMOTE.CWRU.Edu>